


Revelations

by ddagent



Category: Agents of S.H.I.E.L.D. (TV)
Genre: Angst, Drama, Episode Related, Episode Tag, F/M, Friendship
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2015-11-06
Updated: 2015-11-06
Packaged: 2018-04-30 08:42:00
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,203
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/5157368
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/ddagent/pseuds/ddagent
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>After the events of 'Among Us Hide', Melinda shares her suspicions with Phil.</p>
            </blockquote>





	Revelations

**Author's Note:**

> I do not own Agents of SHIELD or any of its characters, or settings - all belongs to Marvel and ABC.
> 
> So I haven't written a lot for the last two months. But I'm hoping some time off will help re-energise me. Hope you like this!

The corridors of the Playground seemed quiet, almost subdued. Despite the return of Simmons and May’s reappearance, the atmosphere on the base felt stale; somehow like it was holding its breath. Phil Coulson walked past his agents as they silently carried out their duties, their heads almost bowed in silence. It reminded him of the Triskelion after New York. Nothing was quite the same. 

Phil turned down another corridor, finding Daisy exiting one of the labs. She slipped her phone into her back pocket before joining him. “You finish up with the Dragon Lady?”

He swallowed a retort at the nickname she’d given Rosalind. He didn’t want to get drawn into another accusation of attraction. So he just answered straight. “Yeah, I got my tour of the base. I’ll brief you all tomorrow.” Daisy blinked, her lips thinning. Something was off. But he decided not to pursue it. She would tell him when she was ready. “Have Bobbi and May come back?”

“Yeah, a little while ago. Bobbi’s with Hunter. I’m not sure about May. Probably with Andrew.”

“Probably.” Phil offered her a weak smile. “Okay, well I guess I’ll see you tomorrow morning. Bright and early; don’t be late.”

Her smile was empty, almost forced. “Yes, sir.”

The young agent brushed past him, heading for the break room. Phil pushed forward towards his office. He intended to pour himself a drink and process the day. He seemed to be doing that a lot recently. Pouring himself a glass from one of the labels he and May had found in the basement after they moved in. Sitting in the dark; processing the loss of his hand, the loss of his friend, the arrival of the Inhumans and the ATCU. But it was never enough time to process it all. 

Reaching his office, Phil pushed against the door. When it didn’t budge, Phil tried again. When that failed, Phil examined the security settings. His office was on lockdown mode so only the Director and his Second in Command could enter. Frowning, Phil entered the code and pushed inside. It didn’t take him long to realise why the security was in place. After she’d left, Phil had refused to let Fitz alter the security protocols. She might not be his agent, but she would always be his partner. And, currently, Melinda May was asleep on his sofa. 

Throwing the security protocols back up, Phil gingerly approached Melinda. She was curled into a ball, her back against the couch so her body was ready for a fight if necessary. Her gun was cocked and loaded on the table beside her. Strewn paper littered the floor. Phil picked up one of the sheets. Mack’s drawing of Lash. Another was Daisy’s report from the truck. Bobbi’s findings on the hair. Everything they had on Lash. Everything. 

“Melinda,” Phil called out softly, his right hand brushing the crown of her head. She shot up at his touch; hand shooting out for her gun. “Hey, hey, it’s just me. Are you okay?”

Melinda didn’t answer. He wondered if she’d heard him. She swallowed, her tongue wetting her bottom lip. She looked through him, her eyes dark and heavy. He remembered that look. He remembered seeing it when he’d come home one day shortly after Bahrain to find Melinda and a suitcase asleep on his couch. Whatever had happened with Strucker had sent May to a dark place. 

“Melinda,” he called out again. “Are you okay?”

“No. I’m not.” 

Phil looked at the mess of files that surrounded them both. Melinda had never taken an interest in the Inhumans prior to her departure. She’d actively avoided all missions involving them. She’d even avoided Daisy. He couldn’t understand her interest. She was meant to be hunting Ward. Not Lash. Unless- “Did you find something? Find something out about Lash?”

Melinda’s form was hunched, her elbows resting on her knees. She was staring into space, her eyes not quite focussing on him or the room around them. He wondered if his words were even getting through to her. But then she spoke. “I…I don’t know.”

“Tell me what you do.” 

“We got to Strucker too late. Ward’s men had already found him. But before he…he said something. What he said…it contradicts the story Andrew gave us.” 

“Like how?”

Melinda finally looked at him. But then her dark eyes slid to the report by his elbow. She blinked once, twice, as they both stared at Daisy’s report. “Like that.” 

“I don’t understand.” 

“Strucker said that Andrew became…something. That he transformed.” Melinda’s jaw locked. “Andrew disappeared in Maui. Up and left with no calls, no explanations. About a week after he did, the ATCU found a body with a hole in their chest.” Melinda passed him the report Rosalind had sent about Lash’s victims. “I looked through these files to prove to myself that it was just a trick. But dead men don’t lie, Phil. Something is wrong. Very wrong.” 

Phil didn’t have a moment, let alone an evening, to process this. He didn’t have a moment to process that Andrew could be Lash. He didn’t have a moment to process that he’d invited the man and the monster onto his base. Daisy was here, other Inhumans too. He promised to keep them safe. Phil blinked away that thought, instead reaching forward to take Melinda’s hand. He wondered if she would pull away. Instead she held him tight. 

“I don’t know what to do, Phil.” 

“I do. I’ll talk to Weaver on the Iliad, get her to run Andrew’s blood and check for the DNA markers. Odds are it’ll come back negative. I mean, this is Andrew. Leaving you was a stupid move, granted, but he’s not-“

“What if he is?” Melinda swallowed. “I missed it with Ward, what if I-“

Phil gripped her hand as tight as he could, forcing those dark eyes to stare up at him. “This is not your fault. You could not have foreseen this. But if the blood work comes back positive, we’ll do what we can to save him. I promise you.”

“Should we?” 

Melinda turned from him, her eyes rooted on the photographs spread across the floor. The corpses from the ATCU base. The Inhumans from the apartment building. Frye. All dead; all at Lash’s hands. Phil wondered whether another image was coming to Melinda’s mind. A young girl with unfathomable power. The other side to the coin that was Daisy, Lincoln. The darker side of the Inhumans. 

“Whatever happens, whatever comes next, I’ll support you. Whatever road we have to take…I’ll be there beside you. I promise.”

“Thank you.”

Melinda sat, motionless, on the couch as Phil put in the call to Weaver. They would have Andrew’s blood already on file; it wouldn’t take long to run the tests. Phil sat on the floor beside Melinda, his phone resting atop Mack’s sketch of Lash. Her fingers dug into his shoulder; nails biting into his skin. He rested a hand atop hers in some attempt of comfort. In Bahrain, Melinda had fixed the problem. This time, he would. To do otherwise would be to lose her forever. 

He couldn’t lose her again.


End file.
